Archive for December 2012

Cranberry sauce is one of the staples of the modern British Christmas dinner. I made some cranberry jelly a few weeks ago which, preserved, keeps well. Now Christmas is only a few days away, it’s time to make the cranberry sauce, as an alternative.

This seasonal recipe for chocolate and chestnut yule log is from Jamie Oliver. A chocolate yule log is really an essential for me at Christmas. Having tried recipes from Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith, I thought I’d give Jamie’s a go this year.

I like chocolate logs because of their chocolate-y goodness, but also because they evoke the ancient European yule tradition of bringing a log into the house in the depths of winter. That’s bound to make you feel all warm and cosy at this time of year.

Making your own yule log from scratch means making a swiss roll, which can be a bit scary if you haven’t attempted this before. Never fear though, it’s actually very easy.

This recipe for cranberry jelly comes from The Complete Book of Preserves and Pickles by Catherine Atkinson and Maggie Mahew. Cranberry jelly, or its relation cranberry sauce, has become a staple of the Christmas table.

Christmas just ain’t Christmas without a chocolate yule log. Two years ago, I made Nigella Lawson’s Bûche de Noël. That was a huge success, absolutely delicious, but last year I decided to try a different one and made a squidgy chocolate log with this recipe from Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course. Again, this recipe is flourless, giving a light sponge.

Now, you may notice that Delia’s version is not smothered with lashings of chocolate ganache or buttercream, but the cream and chocolate mousse filling means that this log is still extremely indulgent, and well worth a try.

This celeriac and apple soup follows on the heels of last month’s plain old celeriac soup, and is using up some of the apple harvest. This recipe comes from Angela Hartnett on the Guardian website. I’ve never used apples in a soup, but their sweetness goes well with the earthy er… celery-ness of the celeriac, and the flavours balance really well.

This recipe for multigrain bread is made with quark, a curd cheese popular in Germany. The addition of the quark to the bread dough gives a loaf that is quite moist, with a subtle tangy flavour. I used malted flake (granary) flour, and added wheat bran and pearl barley for an extra dimension of texture.